Toy



0d. 29. 1940- F. HAMMOND Er AL. 2,219,311

TOY

Filed March 16. 1939 INVENTORS Patented Oct. 29, 1940 Frank Hammond, Boontoil, and I-.ynott B. Boot,

Mountain Lakes, l \T J. l. Y l Application March 16, iasaserial'iv 262,140"

`This invention relates to toys, and particularly to aerial toys of the type in which a projectile shaped to conform to the figure of a man is provided with a folded enclosed parachute attached 5" thereto, and having mechanism expected to release the parachute following the shooting or impelling'of the projectile upwardly into the air.

Heretofore various expedients for releasing the parachute of a toy of this character have been 10y proposed, consisting chiey of gravity actuated devices, but which have been found in practice to be unreliable for this purpose.

The primary object of this invention is to provide reliable means, simple in operation, for pos- 1 itively releasing the aforesaid parachute when the projectile reaches substantially the top of its flight. A further object of the invention is to provide a toy that will closely approximate in a realistic manner the standard practice emyl ployed by aviators in folding and enclosing a parachute, and the freeing of same by releasing the usual surrounding flaps of the enclosure. The invention consists of parachute-controlling mechanism adapted to be cocked, or set, before d5 the projectile is fired, as by any suitable means not shown, andv to be automatically tripped through forces of inertia generated by the sudden start of the flight, but the timing of the mechanism being such as to provide a definite interval, or lag, before certain parts thereof can reach a position effective to liberate the para'- chute, so that it may then be free to open 'and allow the toy to descend slowly.

The invention will be better understood from the embodiment shown and described herein, ref# erence being had to the accompanying drawing forming a part hereof, in which:

Figure 1 is a perspective view of the toy of this invention with the contained mechanism in a set 40 position ready for the flight of the device.

Figure 2v is an elevation, partly in section, of the parachute-controlling mechanism removed from the toy, and shown in a cocked, or set position.

Figure 3 is a similar view but showing the mechanism in the position assumed to release the parachute. V

Figure 4 is an enlarged vertical central section of the device shown in Figure 1, with the parachute omitted.

Figure 5 is an enlarged side elevation ofthe mechanism of Figure 2, as viewed from the right, and.,

Figure is an elevation of the toy as it appears descending with the parachute opened.

:In'the drawing, I0 represents the figure-of a s claims. (o1. i6- 86), f x

man, andII his-head.` The backl I2 is cut away to form a rectilinear 4recess I3, operi rearwardly and onM top, for the reception` of the parachutecontrolling, mechanism shown in Figures 2,3, 4 and 5. The latter'is mounted on a rectangular platef I 4 f'having cylindrical spacers v I 5` attached thereto, and ,tapped-,to receive `screws I6, which Dassthroulgh the,v body, of the man from the front thereof and securely clamp the plate I4 in 'such a mannerthatl it ywill form 4an outer or rear'wall 10':

forthe recessl I3, anduthus provide-a protective housing vvitlfiin` which the mechanism will `bebiddh.,

1 f casing ll, preferablymade of cloth,`is'pro' vided toenclose a parachuteA` I8r which has shrouds I9 meetingl ata common point and joined'to a 'short'- coid20 for attachment to a screw eye-2i secured-in the top of the'he'ad II.` Tlie casing 'is provided with side flaps 22-22, 'a top flap 23,"and=`a=bttom flap 24, and is attached to-'the plate lI4 as*`V by glue or'other suitable adh'esivesf-IIt is reinforced by apiece of cardboard 25 yglued yto .the 'inside and cut'to approximately the'samesize as thezplate'll.' y

A.- cli`p 26 is rsuitably secured to the outer end of flap 24 and is adapted to engage the'topedge of the-Jplate I4,'"a's`shown inFigures 1" and et,` when the flaps. are'wrapped around the parachute as' in-Figure'* 1,*a-nd thus 'holds the parachute withinthecasing-I'l. Mechanismisprovided for lifting theclip 28 to allow the flaps to fall away"and`relea'se'the parachute. Forl this purpose there is a lever 21 pivoted on the insideof plate I4 at 28. It is twisted at one end to form a handle or nger piece 29 `which projects beyond one side of the man I0, for use lin cooking the mechanism, and is pivoted adjacent its otherend at 30 to thev bifurcated endy 3l yof a rod 32 having a piston 33 at its opposite endl.:` A portion of the upperV edge'of lever 21, substantially midway between pivots 28 and 30, isbent to form a lug 21 which engages the surface of plate I4 to stabilize'the lever, and isf positioned so that it may swing intoY engagement.v with the clip 26 just before the lever reaches'the position shown in Figure 3.

Th'e piston 33"'is snuglyl slidablev in a tube A"34 which is pivoted'at its lower end, als at 35, to the plate I4. The upper'end of'the tube is closed with a plug 36 through which the rod 32 slides with a running-fit.

It will now be apparent that when lever 21 is moved from the position in Figure 3 to'that shown'in Figure 2 to cock the mechanism, air rwill be cushioned in the tube 34 but can pass .slowly 55 beyond the piston due to the free flt of the latter in tube 34. Likewise when the movementl of the mechanism occurs in a reverse direction effective to release the parachute, a slight vacuum will 5 be established below the piston thus retarding its upward movement in tube 34 commensurate with the rate at which air can again pass the piston to permit it to slowly reach the end of its upward stroke.

The piston 33 is moved upwardly by the urge of a spring 31 which is first compressed by the manual movement of the handle 28 during the cocking of the mechanism. Spring 31 is coiled' around a rod 38 slidably mounted in a sleeve 39 to a bifurcated head 4I pivoted at 42 to lever 21. Lever 21 is held in the set position shown in Figure 2 by means of a bellcranlcl lever 43 pivoted to plate I4 at 44, and normally urged against a stop pin 45 by a spring 46 coiled around pivot 44. One end of the spring engages lever 43, and the other end is secured to plate I-4 as shown in Figure 5.

n Bellcrank lever 43 has an upper arm 41 and a. lower arm 48. Arm 41 is provided with a tooth 49 and a sloping surface 50 above the tooth, constituting` latching means, the toothy being adapted. for engagement witha surface 3|' with-l in the bifurcated end 3| of rod 32, and the sloping surface for engagementA withl the lower edge of end 3| to thereby cause lever 43 to rock in a clockwise direction and effect a latching engagement of tooth 49, when the handle 29 is operated. Sufficient power will then be stored in the spring 31 to operate the mechanism for the pur'- pose set forth.

Mounted on the plate I4 are ktwo studs 5I supporting a stationary vertical rod 52 secured at opposite ends to said studs in spaced relation tothe plate. A weight 53 is` loosely mounted to reciprocate freelyl on rod 52, and is in turn supported on a light spring 54 of a strength sufficient onlyv to counterbalance the weight when in its uppermost position4 as'shown. Arm 48 of 4,5 bellcrank lever 43 projects into the path of travel of the weight 53.

When the'.parachute-controllingv mechanism is in the set position` shown in Figure 2 with the parachutel folded and Wrapped in the casing I1,

and with the clip 26 hooked over the top of plate I4 as in Figure 1, the toy isready to bev shot upwardlyinto the air.

Suitable means, not shown in the drawing, may be employed: for this purpose, such for example, as a short board inclined at a sharp angle to the perpendicular, and having spring-means associated with a trigger; or a sling consisting of a stick to be held in one hand, and having a rubber band' attached for looping under the chin of the man then grasped in the other hand, and the band stretched to impell the toy. In any event, theresulting sudden movement of the toy as it is started in an upward direction, will cause the weight 53, due to its inertia, to quickly descendV along the rod 52 to approximately the position shown in broken lines in Figure 2, and because of the readily yieldable character of spring 54 upon whichzweightv 53 is poised. Lever 43 will thereupon. be actuated by the engagement of the weight 53 with arm 48 of the lever. Arm: 41 will then be moved away from the bifurcated end 3I, and, its tooth 49 will be disengaged therefrom. The urge of spring 31 will then swing the lever' 2'I in a counter clockwise direction about its pivot 28,

andfpiston` 33 will` consequently be drawn upwardpivoted at 40 to the plate I4. Rod 38 is secured ly in tube 34, but at a relatively slow rate of speed due to the aforesaid partial vacuum maintained below the piston during such travel.

The time required for the piston to reach its outermost position is equal to approximately a count of six, and corresponds to the interval of time required for the toy to reach its maximum height in the air. As the lug 21 swings upwardly with that end of lever 21, it will presently come into contact with clip 26 and elevate it out of engagement with plate I4. As soon as the clip is free of the plate I4, aps 22-22, 23 and 24 will burst open because of the resilient character of the material of which the parachute is made, such as China silk, and because the parachute is folded back and forth in the conventional manner of pleating, commonly practiced by aviators.

The humanlike figure I8, although of comparatively light weight, is nevertheless very much heavier than the parachute, and will descend more rapidly assuring the fullopening of the parachute as it catches the air substantially as in regular practice. The mechanism as shown is timed to operate at heights of about fty feet.. Should pivot 42 be located nearer to pivot 2.8, the timing would be slower because of the less favorable leverage therebetween, and conversely the timing would be shortened by increasing the distance between. the said pivots.

It will now be seen that dependable means have been provided for automatically releasing the parachute at an appropriate time that are independent of. any particular inclinatio-n of the projectile in the air, and that are correlated to the beginning of its flight rather than to the end thereof for operative tripping of the releasing mechanism.

It also will be obvious that such a mechanism could be applied to a regular parachute harness for use by human jumpers, or dummies frequentlyy employed in the testing of parachutes, and in which the latching means disclosed herein could be manually' tripped immediately before the jumper left an airplane, and could be timed to automaticallyl effect the freeing' ofthe parachute at a suitable predetermined time, or for supplemental useas a safety device.

We claim:

1. In a toy to be impelled into the air and having a folded enclosed parachute attached thereto, mechanism for releasing the parachute at a predetermined time during the flight of said toy, comprising a latch and a cooperating surface for holding parts of said mechanism under tension in a cocked or set position, and means for tripping saidl latch arranged to. be movably responsive to forces of inertia generated by the sudden start of the flight of said toy.

2. In a toy to be impelled into the air and having a folded enclosed parachute attached thereto, mechanism including spring means for releasing the parachute at a predetermined time during the'ight of said toy, comprising a latch and a cooperating surface for normally holdingk parts of saidl mechanismagainst the urge of said spring means in a cocked or inactive position, means for tripping said latch arranged to be movably responsive to forces of inertia generated by thesudden start of said flight, and means for retarding the movement of said mechanism to delay the releasing of said parachute.

3. A mechanism for automatically releasing a folded parachute from an enclosing structure during the ight of same, comprising tensioning means, and latching means for normally holding said mechanism under tension in a cocked or inactive position, and means effective for automatically retarding the movement of said mechanism to delay the' releasing of said parachute to a predetermined extent following the tripping of said latching means.

4. A mechanism for automatically releasing a folded parachute from an enclosing structure during the flight of same, comprising tensioning means, and latching means for normally holding said mechanism under tension in a cocked or inactive position, means for automatically tripping said latching means at the beginning of said flight, and means for automatically retarding the movement of said mechanism following said tripping to delay the releasing of said parachute.

5. In a toy to be impelled into the air having a folded parachute attached thereto and a casing for enclosing same, means for securing the casing in a closed position, mechanism for automatically opening said casing to liberate said parachute at a predetermined time during the ight of said toy, effective to operatively eng-age said casing securing means, comprising a cylinder, a piston in same, and a piston rod, and including means for manually moving the piston rod in one direction, and spring means for moving it in the opposite direction, a latch and a cooperating surface for holding said rod and spring means against the urge of said spring means, and means for automatically tripping said latch at the beginning of the iight of said toy.

6. In a toy to be impelled into the air having a folded parachute attached thereto and a casing for enclosing same, flaps forming a part of said casing adapted to be wrapped around said parachute, a clip secured to one of said flaps and adapted to cooperate with .a surface on said toy and hold all of said aps in such closed position, mechanism for automatically releasing said flaps to liberate said parachute at a predetermined time during the flight of said toy, comprising a pivoted lever adapted to be manually rocked in one direction, spring means for moving the lever in an opposite direction to engage said clip, and

'adapted to be tensioned by the aforesaid initial movement of said lever, a cylinder, a piston in same, and a piston rod pivotally connected to said lever for retarding the movement of same,

50 a latch and a cooperating surface on said mechanism adapted to hold said lever against the urge of said spring means, and means for automatically tripping said latch at the beginning of the ight of said toy.

'7. In a toy to be impelled into the air having a folded parachute attached thereto and a casing for enclosing same, aps forming a part of said casing adapted to be wrapped around said parachute, a clip secured to one of said flaps and adapted to hold all of said flaps in such closed position, mechanism for automatically releasing said flaps to liberate said parachute at a predetermined time during the night of said toy comprising a pivoted lever adapted to be manually rocked in one direction, spring means for moving the lever in an opposite direction to engage said clip and adapted to be tensioned by the aforesaid initial movement of said lever, a cylinder, a piston in same, and .a piston rod pivotally connected to said lever for retarding the movement of same, a latch consisting of a bellcrank lever one arm of which is provided with a tooth to effect a latching engagement with a cooperating surface on said mechanism, and hold said lever against the urge of said spring means, a weight slidably mounted and adapted to engage the other arm of said bellcrank lever, a spring for supporting and counter balancing the Weight, whereby when the toy is moved suddenly upward the inertia of said Weight will effect its operative engagement with said bellcrank lever to rock same and disengage said tooth for the purpose set forth.

8. A mechanism for automatically releasing a folded parachute from `an enclosing casing during the fiight of same, comprising means for securing said casing in a closed position, means effective to operatively engage said casing securing means at a predetermined time to liberate said parachute consisting of means for tensioning said mechanism and latching means for norm-ally holding said mechanism under tension in a cocked position, further means for tripping said latching means effective at the beginning of said flight, and means for retarding the movement of said mechanism toward said casing securing means effective to delay the releasing of said parachute following the tripping of said latching means.

FRANK HAMMOND. LYNOTT B. ROOT. 

